What is the Golden Horde? The reign of the Golden Horde is brief. Friend against Friend
The Golden Horde (Ulus Jochi) is a medieval state in Eurasia.
The beginning of the Golden Horde era
The formation and formation of the Golden Horde begins in 1224. The state was founded by the Mongol Khan Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, and until 1266 it was part of the Mongol Empire, after which it became independent, retaining only formal subordination to the Empire. The majority of the state's population were Volga Bulgars, Mordovians, and Mari. In 1312, the Golden Horde became an Islamic state. In the 15th century. the unified state broke up into several khanates, the main one among which was the Great Horde. The Great Horde existed until the mid-16th century, but the other khanates collapsed much earlier.
The name “Golden Horde” was first used by the Russians after the fall of the state, in 1556, in one of historical works. Before this, the state was designated differently in different chronicles.
Territories of the Golden Horde
The Mongol Empire, from which the Golden Horde emerged, occupied territories from the Danube to the Sea of Japan and from Novgorod to Southeast Asia. In 1224, Genghis Khan divided the Mongol Empire between his sons, and one of the parts went to Jochi. A few years later, Jochi’s son, Batu, undertook several military campaigns and expanded the territory of his khanate to the west; the Lower Volga region became the new center. From that moment on, the Golden Horde began to constantly capture new territories. As a result, most of the modern Russia(except for the Far East, Siberia and Far North), Kazakhstan, Ukraine, part of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
In the 13th century. The Mongol Empire, which had seized power in Rus' (), was on the verge of collapse, and Rus' came under the rule of the Golden Horde. However, the Russian principalities were not ruled directly by the khans of the Golden Horde. The princes were only forced to pay tribute to the Golden Horde officials, and soon this function came under the control of the princes themselves. However, the Horde did not intend to lose the conquered territories, so its troops regularly carried out punitive campaigns against Rus' to keep the princes in obedience. Rus' remained subject to the Golden Horde almost until the collapse of the Horde.
State structure and management system of the Golden Horde
Since the Golden Horde left the Mongol Empire, the descendants of Genghis Khan were at the head of the state. The territory of the Horde was divided into allotments (uluses), each of which had its own khan, but smaller uluses were subordinate to one main one, where the supreme khan ruled. The ulus division was initially unstable and the boundaries of the uluses were constantly changing.
As a result of the administrative-territorial reform at the beginning of the 14th century. the territories of the main uluses were allocated and assigned, and the positions of ulus managers - ulusbeks - were introduced, to whom smaller officials - viziers - were subordinate. In addition to the khans and ulusbeks, there were national assembly- kurultai, which was convened only in emergency cases.
The Golden Horde was a paramilitary state, so administrative and military positions were often combined. The most important positions were occupied by members of the ruling dynasty, who were related to the khan and owned lands; smaller administrative positions could be occupied by mid-level feudal lords, and the army was recruited from the people.
The capitals of the Horde were:
- Saray-Batu (near Astrakhan) - under the reign of Batu;
- Sarai-Berke (near Volgograd) - from the first half of the 14th century.
In general, the Golden Horde was a multi-structured and multinational state, therefore, in addition to the capitals, there were several large centers in each region. The Horde also had trading colonies on the Sea of Azov.
Trade and economy of the Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a trading state, actively engaged in buying and selling, and also had multiple trading colonies. The main goods were: fabrics, linen canvases, weapons, jewelry and other jewelry, furs, leather, honey, timber, grain, fish, caviar, olive oil. Trade routes to Europe, Central Asia, China and India began from the territories that belonged to the Golden Horde.
In addition, the Horde received a significant part of its income from military campaigns (robberies), collection of tribute (yoke in Rus') and the conquest of new territories.
The end of the era of the Golden Horde
The Golden Horde consisted of several uluses, subordinate to the authority of the Supreme Khan. After the death of Khan Janibek in 1357, the first unrest began, caused by the absence of a single heir and the desire of the khans to compete for power. The struggle for power became the main reason for the further collapse of the Golden Horde.
In the 1360s. Khorezm separated from the state.
In 1362, Astrakhan separated, the lands on the Dnieper were captured by the Lithuanian prince.
In 1380, the Tatars were defeated by the Russians during an attempt to attack Rus'.
In 1380-1395 the unrest ceased and power was again subordinated to the Great Khan. During this period, successful Tatar campaigns against Moscow were made.
However, at the end of the 1380s. The Horde attempted to attack Tamerlane's territory, but were unsuccessful. Tamerlane defeated the Horde troops and ravaged the Volga cities. The Golden Horde received a blow, which marked the beginning of the collapse of the empire.
At the beginning of the 15th century. New khanates were formed from the Golden Horde (Siberian, Kazan, Crimean, etc.). The khanates were ruled by the Great Horde, but the dependence of new territories on it gradually weakened, and the power of the Golden Horde over Russia also weakened.
In 1480, Rus' was finally freed from the oppression of the Mongol-Tatars.
At the beginning of the 16th century. The Great Horde, left without small khanates, ceased to exist.
The last khan of the Golden Horde was Kichi Muhammad.
He divided all his possessions among his sons. Eldest son Jochi, inherited a huge expanse of land from the headwaters of the Syr Darya to the mouths of the Danube, which, however, still had to be largely conquered. Jochi died before the death of his father and his lands came into the possession of five sons: Horde, Batu, Tuk-Timur, Sheiban and Teval. The Horde stood at the head of the tribes roaming between the Volga and the upper reaches of the Syr Darya, Batu received the western possessions of the Jochi ulus as his inheritance. The last khans of the Golden Horde (from 1380) and the khans of Astrakhan (1466 - 1554) came from the Horde clan; The Batu family ruled the Golden Horde until 1380. The possessions of Khan Batu were called the Golden Horde, the possessions of the Khan of the Horde - the White Horde (in Russian chronicles the Blue Horde).
Golden Horde and Rus'. Map
We know relatively little about the reign of the first Khan Batu. He died in 1255. He was succeeded by his son Sartak, who, however, did not rule the Horde, since he died on the way to Mongolia, where he went to obtain approval for the throne. The young Ulakchi, appointed as Sartak's successor, also soon died and then Batu's brother Berkay or Berke (1257 - 1266) ascended the throne. Berkay was followed by Mengu-Timur (1266 – 1280 or 1282). Under him, Jochi’s grandson, Nogai, who dominated the Don steppes and partially captured even the Crimea, gained significant influence on the internal affairs of the Khanate. He is the main sower of unrest after the death of Mengu-Timur. After civil strife and several short reigns, in 1290 the son of Mengu-Timur Tokhta (1290 - 1312) seized power. He enters into a fight with Nogai and defeats him. In one of the battles, Nogai was killed.
Tokhta's successor was the grandson of Mengu-Timur Uzbek (1312 - 1340). The time of his reign can be considered the most brilliant in the history of the Golden Horde . The Uzbek was followed by his son Janibek (1340 - 1357). Under him, the Tatars no longer sent their own Baskaks to Rus': the Russian princes themselves began to collect tribute from the population and take them to the Horde, which was much easier for the people. Being a zealous Muslim, Janibek, however, did not oppress those who professed other religions. He was killed by his own son Berdibek (1357 - 1359). Then turmoil and a change of khans begin. Over the course of 20 years (1360 - 1380), 14 khans were replaced in the Golden Horde. Their names are known to us only thanks to the inscriptions on the coins. At this time, a temnik (literally the chief of 10,000, generally a military leader) Mamai rises in the Horde. However, in 1380 he was defeated by Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo Field and was soon killed.
History of the Golden Horde
After the death of Mamai, power in the Golden Horde passed to the descendant of Jochi’s eldest son, Horde (some news, however, call him a descendant of Tuk-Timur) Tokhtamysh(1380 – 1391). Batu's descendants lost power, and the White Horde united with the Golden Horde. After Tokhtamysh, the darkest period begins in the history of the Golden Horde. The struggle begins between the Tokhtamyshevichs and the henchmen of the great Central Asian conqueror Timur. The enemy of the first was the Nogai military leader (temnik) Edigey. Having great influence, he constantly intervenes in civil strife, replaces khans and finally dies in the fight with the last Tokhtamyshevich on the banks of the Syr Darya. After this, khans from other clans appear on the throne. The Horde is weakening, its clashes with Moscow are becoming less and less frequent. The last khan of the Golden Horde was Akhmat or Seyyid-Ahmed. The death of Akhmat can be considered the end of the Golden Horde; his numerous sons, who stayed on the lower reaches of the Volga, formed Khanate of Astrakhan, which never had political power.
The sources for the history of the Golden Horde are exclusively Russian and Arab (mainly Egyptian) chronicles and inscriptions on coins.
Rus' under the Mongol-Tatar yoke existed in an extremely humiliating way. She was completely subjugated both politically and economically. Therefore, the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus', the date of standing on the Ugra River - 1480, is perceived as the most important event in our history. Although Rus' became politically independent, the payment of tribute in a smaller amount continued until the time of Peter the Great. The complete end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke is the year 1700, when Peter the Great canceled payments to the Crimean khans.
Mongol army
In the 12th century, Mongol nomads united under the rule of the cruel and cunning ruler Temujin. He mercilessly suppressed all obstacles to unlimited power and created a unique army that won victory after victory. He, creating a great empire, was called Genghis Khan by his nobility.
Having conquered East Asia, the Mongol troops reached the Caucasus and Crimea. They destroyed the Alans and Polovtsians. The remnants of the Polovtsians turned to Rus' for help.
First meeting
There were 20 or 30 thousand soldiers in the Mongol army, it is not precisely established. They were led by Jebe and Subedei. They stopped at the Dnieper. And at this time, Khotchan persuaded the Galich prince Mstislav the Udal to oppose the invasion of the terrible cavalry. He was joined by Mstislav of Kiev and Mstislav of Chernigov. According to various sources, the total Russian army numbered from 10 to 100 thousand people. The military council took place on the banks of the Kalka River. A unified plan was not developed. spoke alone. He was supported only by the remnants of the Cumans, but during the battle they fled. The princes who did not support Galician still had to fight the Mongols who attacked their fortified camp.
The battle lasted three days. Only by cunning and a promise not to take anyone prisoner did the Mongols enter the camp. But they didn’t keep their words. The Mongols tied up the Russian governors and princes alive and covered them with boards and sat on them and began to feast on the victory, enjoying the groans of the dying. So the Kiev prince and his entourage died in agony. The year was 1223. The Mongols, without going into details, went back to Asia. In thirteen years they will return. And all these years in Rus' there was a fierce squabble between the princes. It completely undermined the strength of the Southwestern principalities.
Invasion
The grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu, with a huge half-million army, having conquered the Polovtsian lands in the east and the south, approached the Russian principalities in December 1237. His tactics were not to give a big battle, but to attack individual detachments, defeating everyone one by one. Approaching southern borders Ryazan principality, the Tatars ultimatively demanded tribute from him: a tenth of horses, people and princes. There were barely three thousand soldiers in Ryazan. They sent for help to Vladimir, but no help came. After six days of siege, Ryazan was taken.
The inhabitants were killed and the city was destroyed. This was the beginning. The end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke will occur in two hundred and forty difficult years. Next was Kolomna. There the Russian army was almost all killed. Moscow lies in ashes. But before that, someone who dreamed of returning to their native places buried a treasure of silver jewelry. It was found by accident during construction in the Kremlin in the 90s of the 20th century. Next was Vladimir. The Mongols spared neither women nor children and destroyed the city. Then Torzhok fell. But spring was coming, and, fearing muddy roads, the Mongols moved south. Northern swampy Rus' did not interest them. But the defending tiny Kozelsk stood in the way. For almost two months the city resisted fiercely. But reinforcements came to the Mongols with battering machines, and the city was taken. All the defenders were slaughtered and no stone was left unturned from the town. So, all of North-Eastern Rus' by 1238 lay in ruins. And who can doubt whether there was a Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus'? From brief description It follows that there were wonderful good neighborly relations, doesn’t it?
Southwestern Rus'
Her turn came in 1239. Pereyaslavl, the Chernigov principality, Kyiv, Vladimir-Volynsky, Galich - everything was destroyed, not to mention smaller cities and villages. And how far away is the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke! How much horror and destruction its beginning brought. The Mongols entered Dalmatia and Croatia. Western Europe trembled.
However, news from distant Mongolia forced the invaders to turn back. But they didn’t have enough strength for a second campaign. Europe was saved. But our Motherland, lying in ruins and bleeding, did not know when the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke would come.
Rus' under the yoke
Who suffered the most from the Mongol invasion? Peasants? Yes, the Mongols did not spare them. But they could hide in the forests. Townspeople? Certainly. There were 74 cities in Rus', and 49 of them were destroyed by Batu, and 14 were never restored. Craftsmen were turned into slaves and exported. There was no continuity of skills in crafts, and the craft fell into decline. They forgot how to cast glassware, boil glass to make windows, and there was no more multi-colored ceramics or jewelry with cloisonné enamel. Masons and carvers disappeared, and stone construction stopped for 50 years. But it was hardest of all for those who repelled the attack with weapons in their hands - the feudal lords and warriors. Of the 12 Ryazan princes, three remained alive, of the 3 Rostov princes - one, of the 9 Suzdal princes - 4. But no one counted the losses in the squads. And there were no less of them. Professionals in military service were replaced by other people who were accustomed to being pushed around. So the princes began to have full power. This process subsequently, when the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke comes, will deepen and lead to the unlimited power of the monarch.
Russian princes and the Golden Horde
After 1242, Rus' fell under the complete political and economic oppression of the Horde. In order for the prince to legally inherit his throne, he had to go with gifts to the “free king,” as our princes called the khans, to the capital of the Horde. I had to stay there for quite a long time. Khan slowly considered the lowest requests. The whole procedure turned into a chain of humiliations, and after much deliberation, sometimes many months, the khan gave a “label,” that is, permission to reign. So, one of our princes, having come to Batu, called himself a slave in order to retain his possessions.
The tribute to be paid by the principality was necessarily specified. At any moment, the khan could summon the prince to the Horde and even execute anyone he disliked. The Horde pursued a special policy with the princes, diligently fanning their feuds. The disunity of the princes and their principalities was to the advantage of the Mongols. The Horde itself gradually became a colossus with feet of clay. Centrifugal sentiments intensified within her. But this will be much later. And at first its unity is strong. After the death of Alexander Nevsky, his sons fiercely hate each other and fight fiercely for the Vladimir throne. Conventionally, reigning in Vladimir gave the prince seniority over everyone else. In addition, a decent plot of land was added to those who brought money to the treasury. And for the great reign of Vladimir in the Horde, a struggle flared up between the princes, sometimes to the death. This is how Rus' lived under the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The Horde troops practically did not stand in it. But if there was disobedience, punitive troops could always come and start cutting and burning everything.
The Rise of Moscow
The bloody feuds of the Russian princes among themselves led to the fact that during the period from 1275 to 1300, Mongol troops came to Rus' 15 times. Many principalities emerged from the strife weakened, and people fled to quieter places. Little Moscow turned out to be such a quiet principality. It went to the younger Daniel. He reigned from the age of 15 and pursued a cautious policy, trying not to quarrel with his neighbors, because he was too weak. And the Horde did not pay close attention to him. Thus, an impetus was given to the development of trade and enrichment in this area.
Settlers from troubled places poured into it. Over time, Daniil managed to annex Kolomna and Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, increasing his principality. His sons after his death continued their father's relatively quiet policy. Only the Tver princes saw them as potential rivals and tried, while fighting for the Great Reign in Vladimir, to spoil Moscow’s relations with the Horde. This hatred reached the point that when the Moscow prince and the prince of Tver were simultaneously summoned to the Horde, Dmitry Tverskoy stabbed Yuri of Moscow to death. For such arbitrariness he was executed by the Horde.
Ivan Kalita and “great silence”
The fourth son of Prince Daniil seemed to have no chance of winning the Moscow throne. But his older brothers died, and he began to reign in Moscow. By the will of fate, he also became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Under him and his sons, Mongol raids on Russian lands stopped. Moscow and the people in it became richer. Cities grew and their population increased. An entire generation grew up in North-Eastern Rus' and stopped trembling at the mention of the Mongols. This brought closer the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus'.
Dmitry Donskoy
By the birth of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich in 1350, Moscow was already turning into the center of political, cultural and religious life in the northeast. The grandson of Ivan Kalita lived a short, 39 years, but bright life. He spent it in battles, but now it is important to dwell on the great battle with Mamai, which took place in 1380 on the Nepryadva River. By this time, Prince Dmitry defeated the punitive Mongol detachment between Ryazan and Kolomna. Mamai began to prepare a new campaign against Rus'. Dmitry, having learned about this, in turn began to gather strength to fight back. Not all princes responded to his call. The prince had to turn to Sergius of Radonezh for help in order to gather a people's militia. And having received the blessing of the holy elder and two monks, at the end of summer he gathered a militia and moved towards the huge army of Mamai.
On September 8, at dawn, a great battle took place. Dmitry fought in the front ranks, was wounded, and was found with difficulty. But the Mongols were defeated and fled. Dmitry returned victorious. But the time has not yet come when the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus' will come. History says that another hundred years will pass under the yoke.
Strengthening Rus'
Moscow became the center of the unification of Russian lands, but not all princes agreed to accept this fact. Dmitry's son, Vasily I, ruled for a long time, 36 years, and relatively calmly. He defended the Russian lands from the encroachments of the Lithuanians, annexed Suzdal and the Horde weakened, and was taken into account less and less. Vasily visited the Horde only twice in his life. But there was no unity within Rus' either. Riots broke out endlessly. Even at the wedding of Prince Vasily II a scandal broke out. One of the guests was wearing the gold belt of Dmitry Donskoy. When the bride found out about this, she publicly tore it off, causing an insult. But the belt was not just a piece of jewelry. He was a symbol of the grand ducal power. During the reign of Vasily II (1425-1453), feudal wars took place. The Moscow prince was captured, blinded, his entire face was wounded, and for the rest of his life he wore a bandage on his face and received the nickname “Dark.” However, this strong-willed prince was released, and young Ivan became his co-ruler, who, after the death of his father, would become the liberator of the country and receive the nickname the Great.
The end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Rus'
In 1462, the legitimate ruler Ivan III ascended the Moscow throne, who would become a transformer and reformer. He carefully and prudently united the Russian lands. He annexed Tver, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Perm, and even obstinate Novgorod recognized him as sovereign. He made the double-headed Byzantine eagle his coat of arms and began building the Kremlin. This is exactly how we know him. Since 1476, Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde. A beautiful but untrue legend tells how this happened. Having received the Horde embassy, the Grand Duke trampled the Basma and sent a warning to the Horde that the same thing would happen to them if they did not leave his country alone. The enraged Khan Ahmed, having gathered a large army, moved towards Moscow, wanting to punish her for disobedience. About 150 km from Moscow, near the Ugra River on Kaluga lands, two troops stood opposite each other in the fall. The Russian was headed by Vasily's son, Ivan the Young.
Ivan III returned to Moscow and began supplying the army with food and fodder. So the troops stood opposite each other until early winter came with lack of food and buried all of Ahmed’s plans. The Mongols turned around and went to the Horde, admitting defeat. This is how the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke took place bloodlessly. Its date is 1480 - a great event in our history.
The meaning of the fall of the yoke
Having suspended the political, economic and cultural development of Rus' for a long time, the yoke pushed the country to the margins of European history. When in Western Europe The Renaissance began and flourished in all areas, when the national identities of peoples took shape, when countries became rich and flourished with trade, sent a naval fleet in search of new lands, there was darkness in Rus'. Columbus discovered America already in 1492. For Europeans, the Earth was growing rapidly. For us, the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus' marked the opportunity to leave the narrow medieval framework, change laws, reform the army, build cities and develop new lands. In short, Rus' gained independence and began to be called Russia.
On the territory of Central Asia, modern Kazakhstan, Siberia and Eastern Europe in the 13th-15th centuries. The name "Golden Horde", derived from the name of the khan's ceremonial tent, as a designation of the state, first appeared in Russian writings in the 2nd half of the 16th century.
The Golden Horde began to take shape in 1224 as part of the Mongol Empire, when Genghis Khan allocated an ulus to his eldest son Jochi (the founder of the Jochid dynasty) - conquered lands in eastern Dashti-Kipchak and Khorezm. After the death of Jochi (1227), his children Ordu-Ichen and Batu took over the leadership of the Jochi Ulus, who significantly expanded its territory as a result of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of the states of Eastern Europe in the 1230s-40s. The Golden Horde became an independent state during the reign of Khan Mengu-Timur (1266-82) during the collapse of the Mongol Empire. By the 14th century, it occupied lands from the Ob in the east to the Volga region, steppe territories from the Volga to the Danube in the west, lands from the Syr Darya and the lower reaches of the Amu Darya in the south to Vyatka in the north. It bordered with the Hulaguid state, the Chagatai ulus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Byzantine Empire.
Russian lands found themselves under the Mongol-Tatar yoke, but the question of whether they should be considered part of the Golden Horde remains unclear. Russian princes received khan's labels for reigning, paid the Horde exit, participated in some wars of the Horde khans, etc. While maintaining loyalty to the khans, the Russian princes ruled without the intervention of the Horde authorities, but in otherwise their principalities were subjected to punitive campaigns of the khans of the Golden Horde (see Horde raids of the 13th-15th centuries).
The Golden Horde was divided into two “wings” (provinces), delimited by the Yaik River (now the Ural): the western, where the descendants of Batu ruled, and the eastern, led by khans from the Ordu-Ichen clan. Within the “wings” there were uluses of numerous younger brothers Batu and Ordu-Ichen. The khans of the eastern “wing” recognized the seniority of the western khans, but they practically did not interfere in the affairs of the eastern possessions. The administrative center (the place of work of the Khan's office) in the western "wing" of the Golden Horde was first Bolgar (Bulgar), then Sarai, in the eastern "wing" - Sygnak. In historiography, it is generally accepted that under Uzbek Khan (1313-41), the second capital of the western “wing” arose - Sarai New (nowadays there is an opinion that this is one of the designations of the single metropolitan agglomeration of Sarai). Until the mid-14th century, official documents of the Golden Horde were written in Mongolian, then in Turkic.
The majority of the population of the Golden Horde were Turkic nomadic tribes (mainly descendants of the Kipchaks), who were designated in medieval sources by the general name “Tatars”. In addition to them, the Burtases, Cheremis, Mordovians, Circassians, Alans, etc. lived in the Golden Horde. In the western “wing” in the 2nd half of the 13th - 14th centuries, the Turkic tribes apparently merged into a single ethnic community. The eastern "wing" maintained a strong tribal structure.
The population of each ulus occupied a certain territory (yurt) for seasonal movements, paid taxes, and performed various duties. For the needs of taxation and military mobilization, the militia was introduced decimal system, characteristic of the entire Mongol Empire, that is, the division of the people into tens, hundreds, thousands and darkness, or tumens (ten thousand).
Initially, the Golden Horde was a multi-confessional state: Islam was professed by the population of the former Volga-Kama Bulgaria, Khorezm, some nomadic tribes of the eastern “wing”, Christianity was professed by the population of Alania and Crimea; There were also pagan beliefs among nomadic tribes. However, the powerful civilizational influence of Central Asia and Iran led to the strengthening of the position of Islam in the Golden Horde. Berke became the first Muslim khan in the mid-13th century, and under Uzbek in 1313 or 1314, Islam was declared the official religion of the Golden Horde, but became widespread only among the population of the Golden Horde cities; nomads adhered to pagan beliefs and rituals for a long time. With the spread of Islam, legislation and legal proceedings began to be increasingly based on Sharia, although the positions of Turkic-Mongolian customary law (adat, teryu) also remained strong. In general, the religious policy of the rulers of the Golden Horde was distinguished by religious tolerance, based on the covenants (“yasa”) of Genghis Khan. Representatives of the clergy of various denominations (including the Russian Orthodox Church) were exempt from taxes. In 1261, an Orthodox diocese arose in Sarai; Catholic missionaries were active.
At the head of the Golden Horde was a khan. The highest official after him was the backlerbek - the supreme military leader and head of the class of nomadic nobility. Some of the backlerbeks (Mamai, Nogai, Edigei) achieved such influence that they appointed khans at their own discretion. The highest stratum of the ruling elite were representatives of the “golden family” (Chingisids) along the Jochi line. The economy and financial sphere were controlled by the office-divan headed by the vizier. Gradually, an extensive bureaucratic apparatus developed in the Golden Horde, using mainly management techniques borrowed from Central Asia and Iran. Direct control of the subjects was carried out by the nobility of nomadic tribes (beks, emirs), whose influence grew from the 1st half of the 14th century. The beks of the tribes gained access to the supreme government, backlerbeks began to be appointed from among them, and in the 15th century the heads of the most powerful tribes (Karachi beks) formed a permanent council under the khan. Control over cities and the peripheral settled population (including Russians) was entrusted to the Baskaks (Darugs).
The bulk of the population of the Golden Horde was engaged in nomadic cattle breeding. The Golden Horde formed its own monetary system, based on the circulation of silver dirhams, copper pools (from the 14th century) and Khorezm gold dinars. Cities played an important role in the Golden Horde. Some of them were destroyed by the Mongols during the conquest and then restored, because stood on the old trade caravan routes and provided profit to the Golden Horde treasury (Bolgar, Dzhend, Sygnak, Urgench). Others were re-founded, including in places where the winter nomadic headquarters of khans and provincial governors were located (Azak, Gulistan, Kyrym, Madjar, Saraichik, Chingi-Tura, Hadji-Tarkhan, etc.). Until the end of the 14th century, cities were not surrounded by walls, which demonstrated the safety of life in the country. Extensive archaeological excavations in the cities of the Golden Horde revealed the syncretic nature of their culture, the presence in it of Chinese as well as Muslim (mainly Iranian and Khorezm) elements in the construction and planning of buildings, craft production, and applied arts. High level reached architecture, making pottery, metal and jewelry. Craftsmen (often slaves) of various nationalities worked in special workshops. A significant contribution to the culture of the Golden Horde was made by the poets Qutb, Rabguzi, Seif Sarai, Mahmud al-Bulgari and others, lawyers and theologians Mukhtar ibn Mahmud az-Zahidi, Sad at-Taftazani, Ibn Bazzazi and others.
The khans of the Golden Horde pursued an active foreign policy. In order to spread their influence to neighboring countries, they made campaigns against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1275, 1277, etc.), Poland (late 1287), the countries of the Balkan Peninsula (1271, 1277, etc.), Byzantium (1265, 1270), etc. The main opponent of the Golden Horde in the 2nd half of the 13th - 1st half of the 14th century was the state of the Hulaguids, which disputed Transcaucasia with it. Heavy wars were repeatedly fought between the two states. In the fight against the Hulaguids, the khans of the Golden Horde enlisted the support of the sultans of Egypt.
Contradictions among representatives of the Jochid dynasty repeatedly led to internecine conflicts in the Golden Horde. In the 1st half - mid-14th century, during the reign of the khans Uzbek and Janibek, the Golden Horde reached its greatest prosperity and power. However, soon signs of a statehood crisis began to gradually appear. Certain areas became increasingly isolated economically, which further contributed to the development of separatism in them. The plague epidemic in the 1340s caused great damage to the state. After the murder of Khan Berdibek (1359), the “great silence” began in the Golden Horde, when various groups of the Golden Horde nobility entered the struggle for the Sarai throne - the court nobility, provincial governors, relying on the potential of the subject regions, the Jochids of the eastern part of the Golden Horde. In the 1360s, the so-called Mamaev Horde was formed (in the territory west of the Don River), where Mamai ruled on behalf of the nominal khans, who was defeated by Russian troops in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, and then finally defeated in the same year by Khan Tokhtamysh on Kalka River. Tokhtamysh managed to reunite the state and overcome the consequences of the turmoil. However, he came into conflict with the ruler of Central Asia, Timur, who invaded the Golden Horde three times (1388, 1391, 1395). Tokhtamysh was defeated, almost everything big cities were destroyed. Despite the efforts of backlerbek Edigei to restore the state (early 15th century), the Golden Horde entered a stage of irreversible collapse. In the 15th - early 16th centuries, the Uzbek Khanate, Crimean Khanate, Kazan Khanate, Great Horde, Kazakh Khanate, Tyumen Khanate, Nogai Horde and Astrakhan Khanate were formed on its territory.
"Horde raid on Ryazan land in 1380." Miniature from the Facial Chronicle. 2nd half of the 16th century. Russian National Library (St. Petersburg).
Source: Collection of materials related to the history of the Golden Horde / Collection. and processing V. G. Tizenhausen and others. St. Petersburg, 1884. T. 1; M.; L., 1941. T. 2.
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